


ABANDONED As You Wish

by MsLanna



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-08 17:19:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12258708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsLanna/pseuds/MsLanna
Summary: Follows the events in the Thrawn novel and Rebels Season 3. I don't know where I will be going with this, but I'll find a plot to make this romance happen.Updates will likely be short and irregular.Well, my muse has taken me to (too many) other projects. Return highly unlikely.





	1. First Contact

They approached as if the two following were her friends but they are not. It was subtle and Thrawn was not very accustomed to judging human body language. Not as well as he would like by far. But this was obvious. It was what he saw all over the planet.

Alliances – no, not even that. Everybody was looking to get something out of their association with somebody else. It was rare to find a person interacting with another for the mere pleasure of it. In some respects it reminded him of he Ascendancy, but the underlying current of mutual benefiting the whole was missing.

The group stalling not too far away was a good example of it. The female aide was bringing those she considered her friends while those 'friends' were mostly making use of a resource for their own advancement. The curiosity on their features was clear, but it was the aide's decision to act. There was confidence backing up the strides towards them as her companions hovered close by, waiting.

The woman knew her job. She stood in the peripheral vision of Senator Renking who did not take long to invite her into the conversation. Her two companions stayed back, trying not to look obvious about waiting for their own invite into the circle.

Thrawn had been observing this kind of behaviour throughout the evening. It was following distinct rules that followed a very complex pattern. Parts of it unravelled easily, but as with all societies, the upper echelons developed their own means to stay amongst themselves. Unwritten rules were a common tactic to ostracise newcomers.

"Ah—Arihnda," Renking interrupted himself. "I was hoping to run into you—your comm said you were here, but I didn't want to interrupt you with a call unless I had to."

"Not a problem, Senator," his aide replied.

It was a small mystery why humans insisted on covering their obvious intentions with useless words. Anybody watching those two had to see that. Thrawn glanced around, by now assured that nobody could follow the actual direction of his gaze. Humans relied too much on pupils. Among other things.

"I need a favour. But I'm forgetting my manners," Renking continued the game by giving his aide what she had wanted as if he did not know it was the favour he gave her in return for her attendance in her supposed free time. "Colonel, Lieutenant, Ensign: This is Arihnda Pryce, one of my aides. Ms Pryce: This is Colonel Wulff Yularen of the Imperial Security Bureau; Senior Lieutenant Thrawn, a rising star in the navy; and Ensign Eli Vanto, the lieutenant's aide and translator."

"Honoured, noble sirs." Arihnda bowed respectfully. Now that she had gotten what she wanted, she was ready to return the favour. It meant leaving her companions out of the conversation for the moment, but she looked determined to introduce them as well at the first opportunity. Perhaps she did indeed not realise how instrumentalised they saw her.

Yularen followed her glance, making it clear he wanted them out of the conversation. Arihnda acquiesced, conversing politely and with a genuine degree of interest. Thrawn watched her make deductions about Eli on grounds of his accent. Hers was better hidden but to an ear attuned to minute differences, it was easy to hear that she was not from the Core Worlds herself.

She understood the reasons and partly the workings of receptions like this. Yularen said as much himself, calling the series of events they were attending a 'social grinder'. Another strange expression. Chiss society differed vastly from this set-up.

Social events held an important place of course and part of their importance was introducing people to each other. But the reasoning behind it had always been tightening a web to protect the Ascendancy. Personal agendas and even agendas of Ruling Houses had always stood back behind that. On Coruscant, everybody was thinking of their own advancement first. The effects on others or the Empire at large were rarely taken into consideration.

Renking instructed his aide with Thrawn, Eli and Yularen listening in. It was an insurance, proof that he was doing legitimate business. That he needed that, was suspicious in and off itself. As with her friends, Arihnda seemed blind to the undercurrent. Thrawn wondered how she would fare on her job that was more than just delivering data.

He watched her return to her companions from the corner of his eye as Yularen manoeuvred him and Eli towards the next group of senators. It was surprising, but Arihnda did think of them as friends indeed. There was much more to this game that she still had to learn.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


	2. Second Thoughts

Accompanied by ISB no less. Arihnda glanced at Colonel Yularen. Now that had great possibilities if she could make sure Thrawn remembered her. Or if he didn't owed her. Captain Thrawn. Now there was somebody climbing the career ladder quickly.

Unlike her, he had taken the straight path to the top. Captain in under two years. It was impossible. Arihnda tore her eyes away just in time to escape scrutiny. Ensign Vanto, obviously not as fortunate in his promotions, was whispering into his superior's ear.

Well, if the ISB was onto the dojo, it would be a good idea to put ideas she was here to learn fighting to rest as soon as possible. Arihnda made her way towards the newcomers avoiding the too wide kick of another student by leaning to the side. Her mind was on other things, bigger things. Ottlis might have an employer of importance, but he was keeping that secret. Thrawn was right here and he had Yularen. It was not a difficult decision.

"I am Arihnda Pryce," she greeted him not expecting him to remember the brief encounter year back. But Thrawn did and so did his ensign. She managed to explain her presence before H'sishi arrived. It was not as much as Arihnda had hoped for but maybe there would be time to speak to him again later. Put some kind of hook into him.

When Thrawn asked her to walk with him, Arihnda was surprised. He asked after her current employer which might be good or bad. But that was the end of it. He sparred with H'sishi which was easy on the eyes and more reminiscent of water than person. Arihnda did not mind watching as she waited for another opening.

It did not come. After the match, H'sishi brought the requested data and the captain left with his ensign and Yularen in tow. A little eavesdropping was all Arihnda managed.

That eavesdropping proved spectacularly useful only a few day later. Once again Moff Ghadi brought his power down on her hard. But this time, Arihnda was not willing to play his game. This time she would make him pay. But she couldn't do it alone. She needed an ally.

Arihnda knew what to look for. A little information went a long way in the right hands and a little determined digging brought up a few bargaining chips the newly appointed Commander Thrawn. A Commander who had trouble getting his ship space-worthy. It was of advantage that he spent the time on Coruscant close to the Emperor. But any Commander of the fleet worth his title needed to get back into space.

Thrawn was not doing a good job there. Maybe it wasn't the best of all ideas. Maybe it was not even a good idea at all, but right now, Arihnda didn't care. It was a hastily stitched up enterprise. She was not even looking for long-term or even trustworthy allies.

Everybody on this planet was ready to sell their alleged friends for their own advancement. Ottlis had been put in her path for that very reason. Arihnda was not sure if she believed that Juahir had not known.

It was an unpleasant line of thought. One she kept coming back to unwillingly. Juahir had been a friend since she knew her. Not always a good friend, but an only friend. Ever since that first meeting – it was all too convenient. Arihnda reluctantly decided that the shoe on that one was still to drop. Maybe she was wrong. She hoped she was wrong. But Ottlis had taught her a lesson. She would not squander it.

The connections she had found were frail, traces of data that should be there but weren't. Pieces missing more than proof to be found. It was a delicate puzzle. Arihnda knew nobody who would see what she was trying to show them. And she needed somebody who could, who had proved to see what others could or would not.

Thrawn – was not quite there yet. But the way he was barrelling through the ranks meant that he was either as good as his record indicated or that his friends in higher places made it look like it. It didn't matter. He could achieve her goals. That mattered. And in return-

Arihnda smiled tightly. It was a man eat man world on Coruscant. He was an alien. He would need all the help he could get. She was not coming empty-handed. For a simple delivery, the rewards were excellent. Simple transactions of services. Nothing more.

No. Nothing more. Because however stranded she was on Coruscant, a pariah only the lower rungs of the social ladder. And no matter however stranded he was in the Empire, a pariah only the lower rungs of the military – there was absolutely nothing they had in common except the ability to be of use to each other.

_He remembered,_ a voice insisted. _Position_ and _name._

But had not kept up, Arihnda batted the thought away. This was all about tools. Thrawn would either prove a useful one or be discarded. She exhaled. If she had seen any other way – but she didn't. So alien upstart it was. And if she did not hurry, she would be late.


	3. Thrice Is Charm

Thrawn had been surprised by the call, surprised and intrigued. When he had met Arihnda Pryce earlier, she had seemed interested in pursuing some kind of contact. But asking to meet in person this soon was unexpected. As was the time and anonymity she had asked for.

There was something irresistible about mysteries. Thrawn was drawn to solving them, applying rational thought and logic until everything unravelled into a neat chain of causation. The aim was clear, Pryce wanted something from him. It was the details that kept him wondering him. After all she was dealing in political power while he was capitalising on military strength.

There was one connecting strand in the short background check he made. If Pryce had come to this conclusion, this might be a meeting well worth his time. A plain robe and tinted glasses would satisfy her request for anonymity as much as his own. Chiss were largely unknown in the empire despite his exploits. It would serve well to keep it that way for a little while longer.

Pryce had contacted him through public channels. That was easy enough to do but she had used his new rank. It was telling. The lady liked to gather information, maybe as much as he did. It would be interesting to see who put it to better use.

The initial dance of words was satisfactory. She tried to make him connect the dots for better deniability. She also tried to have him supply the means to take down her opponent without telling him who the opponent was and how he connected to anything Thrawn himself was doing. But she was on the same track he had worked out.

Doonium.

Her family had owned a mining company on Lothal and Imperial manoeuvring had ousted them. Obviously that had not sat well with Arihnda Pryce. Her short career bursts on Coruscant showed a certain slant if you knew where to look for it. It was likely that her former downfall was again her opponent. Moff Ghadi was deeply involved in Doonium trade and – other ventures. Thrawn smiled thinly.

It would be easy enough to keep Pryce in the clear when Yularen went in to take Higher Skies apart. Of course she didn't have to know that. Neither did she have to know about the ideas forming in Thrawn's mind as soon as he saw some of the information. Simple 'poking about' could not unearth it. Pryce, or Higher Skies, had a decent thief programme. Something very useful indeed, especially when not connected or handled by ISB.

He would have to ensure that Pryce survived long enough to be useful as an insider in the advocacy group. Finding some way to help her while holding back on what she asked for – it was a challenge Thrawn enjoyed. It flexed the muscles of the mind. Pryce was difficult to read, more guarded than most humans he had met so far. No comparison at all to trusting, almost naive Eli Vanto.

Thrawn smiled to himself when Pryce tried to win him over with help on the political floor. She was doing well enough, but he would hardly call her an adept. There was little overlap of the two sphere, too. At least there should be.

"Maybe they shouldn't"; Pryce replied, "but they are. The way I read it, some of the senators and ministers don't like you. You're too good for them to attack directly, so they find other ways. Pressuring the High Command to keep your aide from advancing is one. Putting your ship as last in line for repairs is another.""

Thrawn could not believe how intertwined politics and the military were to be in the Empire. So there was a reason behind Eli's constant non-promotions. When she added that it was also the reason the repairs on the _Thunder Wasp_ took so long Thrawn decided to look into that very closely. It seemed improbable that politics could influence military that specific, but still. Additionally, he would keep an eye on the changes Pryce offered to make on the repair schedule. Her influence should be easy to track.

Even though she claimed not to have any allies, something she should amend for her own sake. Nudging her in the right direction concerning her Moff problem should suffice to keep her afloat until Yularen had decided how to use Higher Skies before taking it down.

"That gives you two possible vectors of attack," Thrawn spelled it out for her to be sure his point came across. It was amusing to see the gears inside her head to start spinning. Politics was turning into a battlefield before her eyes. Either Pryce did something stupid now, or something worthy of further consideration. Judging from her performance so far, Thrawn put his money on the latter.

Of course, there was one last test. "If you have Yularen's ultimate support and protection," Thrawn said, "you may need to turn your back on your colleagues. Are you prepared to do that?"

"Absolutely." For a second her eyes were cold as the ice flashing out from underneath Csillan snow.

Regardless of her decisions, that woman warranted watching. Something Moff Ghadi was likely to find out the ahrd way. Thrawn did not believe that she would try to turn her opponent into an ally. No, she would find a bigger fish and have him swallowed whole.

"Thank you, Commander," she repeated as she stood and left with a curt nod.

Thrawn watch her wind through the patrons of the diner. There was a determination to her movements now that had not been there when she arrived. If he found time, he would keep an eye on her. It would not hurt to have Eli do the same in his Doonium-related research. They were sue to cross paths again.

It was tempting to call Yularen immediately. He would be very interested in the development. But some things were better handled in person; some data to sensitive to send over the holonet. Touching the datacard in his pocket shortly, Thrawn got up. This had been interesting, more so than anticipated and in a completely different direction. Handled right, he might just have secured a player on the political floors of the Empire.

  



End file.
